John Cowles Jr. (May 27, 1929 – March 17, 2012) was an American editor and

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

, son of

John Cowles Sr. John Cowles Sr. (December 14, 1898 – February 25, 1983) was an American newspaper and magazine publisher. He was co-owner of the Cowles Media Company, whose assets included the ''Minneapolis Star'', the '' Minneapolis Tribune'', the ''Des Moin ...

(1898–1983). Cowles sat on the boards of directors of the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

's Pulitzer Prizes and had been CEO of

Cowles Media Company Cowles Media Company ( ) (1935–1998) was a newspaper, magazine and information publishing company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States. The company operated Cowles Business Media, Cowles Creative Publishing, and Cowles Ent ...

, founded by his

grandfather Grandparents, individually known as grandmother and grandfather, are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. Every sexually-reproducing living organism who is not a genetic chimera has a maximum of four genetic ...

and until 1998 the parent of the '' Star Tribune''.

Biography

In 1960, he helped Minneapolis raise US$2.4 million to build the first Guthrie Theater and later helped the city build the

Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (commonly called the Metrodome) was a domed sports stadium located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It opened in 1982 as a replacement for Metropolitan Stadium, the former home of the National Football League ...

. Cowles then supported the Guthrie's demolition in 2006 for the expansion of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden next door to the

Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in the United States and, to ...

. After serving as vice president and associate editor of the ''

Minneapolis Tribune The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...

'' and the '' Minneapolis Star-Journal'', in August 1960 Cowles Jr. assumed editorship of both papers. He became president in 1968 and editorial chairman the following year. Cowles had a progressive political viewpoint, publishing editorials supporting the

civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

and liberal causes. In 1965, Cowles acquired half-interest in '' Harper's'' magazine which during his fifteen-year tenure lost readers and nearly US$2 million. In 1982 the afternoon ''Star'' was discontinued due to low circulation, and the staffs of the ''Star'' and ''Tribune'' were transferred to the merged ''

Minneapolis Star and Tribune The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...

''. Cowles Jr., fired publisher Donald R. Dwight. His handling of Dwight's termination led to his removal as editor in 1983, although his family retained a controlling financial interest in the newspaper. In a 2006 essay written at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs The Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs is a public policy and planning school at the University of Minnesota, a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is named after Hubert H ...

, Cowles wrote, "The nonprofit sector must reform itself, most notably by initiating some minimum federal standards of behavior and by limiting the lifespan of private foundations to 25 or 30 years so that emphasis is on accomplishment, not process and perpetuation." and He donated startup funds for

MinnPost.com ''MinnPost'' is a nonprofit online newspaper in Minneapolis, founded in 2007, with a focus on Minnesota news. Funding ''MinnPosts initial funding of $850,000 came from four families: John and Sage Cowles, Lee Lynch and Terry Saario, Joel and ...

which was founded in 2007. Cowles died at home of lung cancer on March 17, 2012.Star-Tribune obituary (March 18, 2012)
/ref> He was 82.

Notes

External links

Cowles Family Archive at Cowles Library, Drake University

Biography

Notes

External links

Further reading